The Flight of Prayer

Who knows what wonders happen when we pray,
  What forces stir, what golden blessings run
Toward us on glad feet each time we say
  In all sincerity, "Thy will be done!"
We cannot follow with our mortal sight
  The flight of prayer; we cannot hope to chart
Its secret course, but suddenly a light
  Dawns, and the weight is lifted from our heart.

For prayer has powers that we know not of
  To heal and comfort, to provide and bless.
All the resources of eternal love
  Move to sustain us in the hour of stress,
Clothing us safely round with life and power
  In even the darkest and most urgent hour.
   
by R.H.Grenville - a cutting in my scrapbook, church newsletter from the 1970's.

I Asked God

I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, "No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up".
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, "No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary".
I asked God to grant me patience.
God said,  "No. Patience is a bye-product of tribulations".
I asked God to give me happiness.
God said,  "No. I give you blessings.  Happiness is up to you".
I asked God to spare my pain.
God said,  "No.  Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me".
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said,  "No.  You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful".
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said,  "No.  I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things".
I asked God to help me Love others as much as He loves me.
God said,  ".......ahhh, finally you have the idea".

Anon.  From my scrapbook, a magazine article, undated but probably from the early 1980's.

Birth Baptism

I received  news that I am now a great-grandfather( for the first time) the little girl was born on Friday 21st. March.  So I offer this Gaelic Blessing by Catherine MacNeill, a cottar on Barra, which was collected and translated by Alexander Carmichael.

The little drop of the Father
On thy little forehead, beloved one.

The little drop of the Son
On thy little forehead, beloved one.

The little drop of the Spirit
On thy forehead,beloved one.

To aid thee from the fays,
To guard thee from the host;
To aid thee from the gnome,
To shield thee from the spectre;
To keep thee for the Three,
To shield thee, to surround thee;
To save thee for the Three,
To fill thee with the graces;
The little drop of the Three
To lave thee with the graces.

A wavelet for thy form,
A wavelet for thy voice,
A wavelet for thy sweet speech;

A wavelet for thy luck,
A wavelet for thy good,
A wavelet for thy health;

A wavelet for thy throat,
A wavelet for thy pluck,
A wavelet for thy graciousness;
Nine waves for thy graciousness.

Teach Me

Teach me how to pray, Lord,
Don't know where to start,
Tell me what to say, Lord,
Teach me how to play my part.
Do I have to kneel, Lord?
Can I just bow my head?
Will you know how I feel, Lord,
If I shout it out instead?
Teach me how to pray , Lord,
Tell me what to say,
Teach me how to pray, Lord,
Want to start today.

Teach me how to pray, Lord,
Where do I begin?
Teach me how to live, Lord,
Keep my spirit free from sin.
Help me make the right choice,
Guarding me on my way,
Keeping me in your sight, Lord,
Stay beside me every day.
Teach me how to pray, Lord,
Tell me what to say,
Where do I begin, Lord,
Want to start today.

From my cuttings, late 1970's, obviously from a church magazine but no author noted.

Prayer for Healing

O Blessed Lord, the father of mercies, and the God of all comforts:
We beseech thee, look down in pity and compassion upon this thy afflicted servant.
Thou writest bitter things against him,
and makest him to possess his former iniquities;
thy wrath lieth hard upon him, and his soul is full of trouble:
But, O merciful God, who hast written thy holy Word for our learning,
that we, through patience and comfort of thy holy Scriptures, might have hope;
give him a right understanding of himself, and of thy threats and promises;
that he may neither cast away his confidence in thee,
nor place it any where but in thee.
Give him strength against all his temptations, and heal all his distempers.
Break not the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.
Shut not up thy tender mercies in displeasure;
but make him to hear of joy and gladness,
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Deliver him from fear of the enemy,
and lift up the light of thy countenance upon him, and give him peace,
through the merits and meditation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

                         Taken from the Book of Common Prayer - Order for the Visitation of the Sick

             ________________________________________________________

                  The canopy of St.Cuthbert's Shrine in Durham - Photo by Hong Jong Lim.

St. Cuthbert (b.634 - 20th.March 687)   -   Patron Saint of Northumbria.

Almighty God.
Who called your servant Cuthbert from keeping sheep to follow your son and to be shepherd of your people.
Mercifully grant that we, following his example and caring for those who are lost, may bring them home to your fold.
Through your son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Prayer said in the Cathedral on St.Cuthbert's Day, 20th.March.

The Spiritual Self

The Spiritual Self as condensed in the Buddhist Creed -

Belief in a Spiritual life, after physical death, on another plane with the Great Spirit - to help others to attain spiritual perfection through the acquisition of knowledge in right action, speech and thought.  An open mind to all beliefs, creeds, sects and philosophies.  To heal the sick in mind or body through spiritual help.  To comfort all who need comfort, material as well as spiritual.
To attain Karma.

The Angel of Life

                                                Watercolour by Margaret M Brownlow
                                                                    _______________

Be not ungrateful to thy Creator, for He hath given thee life.
Seek not the law in thy scriptures, for the law is Life, whereas the scriptures are only words.  I tell thee truly, Moses received not his laws from God in writing, but through the living word.  The law is living word of living God to living prophets for living men.  In everything that is life is the law written.
It is found in the grass, in the trees, in the river, in the mountains, in the birds of heaven, in the forest creatures and in the fishes of the sea; but it is found chiefly in thyselves.
All living things are nearer to God than the scriptures that are without life.
God so made life and all living things that they might by the everliving word teach the laws of the Heavenly Father and the Earthly Mother to the sons of men.
God wrote not the laws in the pages of books, but in thy heart and in thy spirit.
They are in thy breath, thy blood, thy bone; in thy flesh, thine eyes, thine ears, and in every little part of thy body.  They are present in the air, in the water, in the earth,in the plants, in the sunbeams, in the depths and in the heights.  They all speak to thee that thou mayest understand the tongue and the will of the living God.
The scriptures are the works of man, but life and all its hosts are the work of God.
First, O Great Creator!  Thou didst create the Heavenly Powers and thou didst reveal the Heavenly Laws!
Thou gavest unto us understanding from thine own mind, and thou madst our bodily life.
We are grateful, Heavenly Father, for all thy manifold gifts of life: for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, for the precious things put forth by the moon, for the great things of the ancient mountains, for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth.
We are grateful Heavenly Father, for the vigour of health, health of the body, wise, bright and clear-eyed, with swiftness of foot, quick hearing of the ears, strength of the arms and eyesight of the eagle.
For all the manifold gifts of Life, we do worship the Fire of Life, and the Holy Light of the Heavenly Order.
We do worship the Fire, the good and the friendly, the Fire of Life!  The most beneficial and the most helpful, the Fire of Life.  The most supporting, the most bountiful, that Fire which is the House of the Lord!
Behold now the Child of Light who doth commune with the Angel of Life.

                                                                                     Taken from the Essene Gospels

Of Angels

'For on the first day He created the heavens which are above and the earth and the waters and all the spirits which serve before Him - the angels of the presence, and the angels of sanctification, and the angels of the spirit of fire, and the angels of the spirit of the winds, and the angels of the spirit of the clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and of hail and of hoar frost, and the angels of the voices and of the thunder and of the lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and of heat, and of winter and of spring and of autumn and of summer and of all the spirits of His creatures which are in the heavens and on the earth.'

                                                                              From 'The Book of Jubilees' 2.2:

Candle of Silence

And Jesus said, There is a Silence where the soul may meet its God, and there the fount of wisdom is, and all who enter are immersed in light, and filled with wisdom, love and power.

The magus said, Tell me about this Silence and this light, that I may go there and abide.

And Jesus said, The silence is not circumscribed; is not a place closed with wall, or rocky steeps, nor guarded by the sword of man.

Men carry with them all the time the secret place where they may meet their God.

It matters not where men abide, on mountain top, in deepest vale, in marts of trade, or in the quiet home; they may at once, at any time, fling wide the door, and find the Silence, find the house of God; it is within the soul.

One may not be so much disturbed by noise of business, and the words and thoughts of men if he goes all alone into the valley or the mountain pass.

And when life's heavy load is pressing hard, it is far better to go out and seek a quiet place to pray and meditate.

The Silence is the kingdom of the soul which is not seen by human eyes.

When in the Silence, phantom forms may flit before the mind; but they are all subservient to the will; the master soul may speak and they are gone.

If you would find this Silence of the soul you must yourself prepare the way.  None but the pure in heart may enter here.

And you must lay aside all tenseness of the mind, all business cares, all fears, all doubts and troubled thoughts.

Your human will must be absorbed by the divine; then you will come into a consciousness of holiness.

You are within the Holy Place, and you will see upon a living shrine the candle of the Lord aflame.

And when you see it burning there, look deep within the temple of your brain, and you will see it all aglow.

In every part, from head to foot, are candles all in place, just waiting to be lighted by the flaming torch of love.

And when you see the candles all aflame, just look, and you will see, with eyes of soul, the waters of the fount of wisdom rushing on; and you may drink, and there abide.

And then the curtains part and you are in the Holiest of All, and where rests the Ark of God, whose covering is the Mercy Seat.

Fear not to lift the sacred board; the Tables of the Law are in the Ark concealed.

Take them and read them well; for they contain all precepts and commands that men will ever need.

And in the Ark, the magic wand of prophecy lies waiting for your hand; it is the key to all the hidden meanings of the present, future, past.

And then, behold, the manna there, the hidden bread of life; and he who eats will never die.

The cherubim have guarded well for every soul this treasure box, and whosoever will may enter in and find his own.

Extracted from 'The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ' by Levi. - Chap.40 - Verses 3 to 24 inc..

Symbols

I watched a rosebud very long
Brought on by dew and sun and shower,
Waiting to see the perfect flower:
Then, when I thought it should be strong,
It opened at the matin hour
And fell at evensong.

I watched a nest from day to day,
A green nest full of pleasant shade,
Wherein three speckled eggs were laid;
But when they should have hatched in May,
The two old birds had grown afraid
Or tired, and flew away.

Then in my wrath I broke the bough
That I had tended so with care,
Hoping its scent should fill the air;
I crushed the eggs, not heeding how
Their ancient promise had been fair:
I would have vengeance now.

But the dead branch spoke from the sod,
And the eggs answered me again:
Because we failed dost thou complain?
Is thy wrath just?  And what if God,
Who waiteth for thy fruits in vain,
Should also take the rod?

                                             by Christina Rossetti (1830-94)